Useful Documents

Leaseholders, freeholders and ground rent

Property sales are either on a leasehold or freehold basis. When you buy a freehold property you own the property and the land it sits on. If your property is a leasehold property you’ll have to pay an annual charge, known as ground rent, to the person who owns the freehold.

The solicitor who helped you purchase the property will be able to explain if the property is a leasehold or freehold property.

Apartment buildings are often sold as leaseholds. The term of the lease can be anything between 99 and 999 years and when you buy the property you buy the right to live there for the duration of the lease.

The freeholder and the lease

The freeholder is the person who owns the land that your property sits on. This could be an individual or a company. The freeholder can sell the freehold to another person or company. You have a right to know who owns the freehold of your property.

The lease is the legal contract between you and the freeholder. When you’re buying a property it’s important that you have your solicitor examine the lease agreement to find out

who the freeholder is

if there are any specific terms which you have to agree with

whether you need the freeholder’s permission to do certain things with the property

how much your annual ground rent will be.

Your solicitor should also ask for confirmation that the ground rent account is up to date. Any problems with the lease need to be sorted out before the sale completes.

Ground rent

You will normally have to pay ground rent to your freeholder. This will be an annual charge. The lease should say when and how this charge can be increased. If you don’t pay your ground rent, the freeholder can take you to court to get a court order requiring you to pay what is owed.

You might also have to pay a service charge on top of the ground rent, particularly if you live in a communal apartment block. At the moment there is no regulation of service charges in Northern Ireland. If you have a problem with the company that you pay the service charge to you should speak to a solicitor.

Expiry of a lease and eviction

The freeholder doesn’t have to renew your lease if it expires but you should ask for this to happen. Without a valid lease you’ll have no right to remain on the land, even though you own the property.

Your freeholder can only evict you from the land with a court order. If you’ve received an eviction notice from your freeholder contact the solicitor who helped you with the purchase.

Buying the freehold

Some leaseholders can redeem their ground rent and basically buy out the freeholder. While most leaseholders can do this, there are some restrictions, including